From alighto–(at)–ualcomm.com Sun Nov 20 13:53:04 CST 1994
Article: 32738 of rec.music.makers.guitar
Path: geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!qualcomm.com!alighton-mac.qualcomm.com!user
From: alighto–(at)–ualcomm.com (Al Lighton)
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar
Subject: Re: Superchamp
Followup-To: rec.music.makers.guitar
Date: Sun, 20 Nov 1994 09:38:31 -0800
Organization: Qualcomm
Lines: 35
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References: <3aetrd$2i--(at)--mcl2.NYU.EDU>
NNTP-Posting-Host: alighton-mac.qualcomm.com
In article <3aetrd$2i--(at)--mcl2.NYU.EDU>, spurgeo–(at)–s2.nyu.edu (Keith
Spurgeon) wrote:
>
> I know it’s only a toy, but I have a little Fender Superchamp all
> tube amp. I need it to piss off my neighbors and my 4 track.
>
> I recently had a tube job done on it (mostly Sovtek replacements).
> The reverb didn’t work before the tubes were put in, and now it only works
> on “clean” channel. The “lead” channel has no–or very, _very_ little–
> reverb.
The superchamp uses the Reverb drive, pre-transformer, as its gain boost
for the lead channel. It is a very clever use of limited tube gain stages
to give a pseudo-channel switching amp, but it does result in the loss of
much reverb in lead mode, since it is practically “shorting” the reverb out
as a result of tapping off the line prior to the reverb transformer.
A mod that I have incorporated into my SC is to put a pot on the rear panel
on the cathode bypass resistor of the reverb drive tube. IMHO, the gain of
the SC lead channel is too over the top for most uses. Cutting the gain,
and compensating by increasing lead channel volume, give a MUCH more
useable sound. And it also desensitizes the reverb knob a little, allowing
a litle finer granularity of the reverb setting (at the expense of overall
reverb levels). I find that I could have just put in a fixed resistor,
since I never really turn that gain pot I added all that much.
The SC into a big speaker sounds VERY GOOD. It is no toy. Thru the stock
speaker, it is a bit wimpy on the bottom end. They were available with an
EV option. I’d like to hear one with that speaker.
—
Al Lighton
[alighto–(at)–ualcomm.com]
